Maze Of Nightmares
by eternal mist
Summary: Sequel to Going Rogue. Traumatized and broken, Wally tries to pick up the pieces of his broken life while trying to deal with the nightmares of what Hartley did to him. But fate always has had a wicked streak... Will he ever be free? Or is he still a puppet stuck in a Maze of Nightmares?
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: If you are reading this, and still haven't figured out that I do NOT own Young Justice, then I pity you.

^o^

Summary: Sequel to Going Rogue. Traumatized and broken, Wally tries to pick up the pieces of his broken life while trying to deal with the nightmares of what Hartley did to him. But fate always has had a wicked streak... Will he ever be free? Or is he still a puppet stuck in a Maze of Nightmares?

^o^

Mist: Yes, it IS that time again!

Whistle: Time for a new story –only this one is a sequel to Going Rogue. A story which left everyone who read it scarred for life.

Mist: Join Wally as he attempts to fix himself.

Whistle: Expect ups and downs… well, mostly downs.

Mist: Also, a special shout out to KaliAnn who was awesome enough to proof read the first half of this chapter for me! THANK YOU!

Whistle: We'll stop delaying now.

Mist: Show time!

^o^

Prologue

^o^

(Wally/Kid Flash's POV)

The room what dark and cold, a heavy snowstorm clouded his view of the window. The silence was deadly; practically telling him that something horrible was about to happen –something that he could not escape. Not even if he died.

He was sitting in a bed hugging his knees with the blanket wrapped tightly around him as he tried to keep in as much heat as possible.

Shadows danced on the walls and watched them with wide, terrified eyes as they crept closer and closer to him…

Wally whimpered as he pulled the blanket tighter around himself, not for the first time wishing that he wasn't too afraid to try and make his way to his aunt and uncle's room. But every time that he made a move for the door the dark shadows converged around it, startling him back into his bed.

"It's not real…" Wally reminded himself softly as he carefully laid down in his bed. "There's nothing there… nothing can hurt me…"

And somehow, even with the dark shadows stalking him Wally managed to fall into a deep sleep…

^o^

_Suddenly he was in a forest, tall trees surrounded him blocking out most of the light. Swallowing his hope. Suffocating him in solitary…_

_Except he wasn't alone. He was staring up into the face of a sadistic monster…_

_Hartley._

_The older boy was smirking down at him, a predatory gleam in his soulless eyes. Wally likened him to a lion that had just found a wounded gazelle… and was about to rip it to shreds._

_And he was the gazelle…_

_Wally tried to back away, but as if by some horrible magic his hands and feet were suddenly bound by silvery duct tape. He tried as hard as he could but no matter how much he pulled against his binds they would not so much as loosen. He was trapped, completely at Hartley's mercy…_

_And mercy wasn't something the sociopath was capable of…_

_Wally looked up again and saw that Hartley was suddenly right in front of him. In a blink of an eye the lunatic had his hands around Wally's throat and was pushing him into the ground. He didn't squeeze hard enough to suffocate him, only enough to scare and constrain him. But Wally wasn't sure how long that would last for._

"_Now do I scare you, my little pet?" The twisted lunatic asked him, leaning forwards so their foreheads were touching._

_Wally trembled in response._

_Hartley's smirk widened to an impossible angle. "Now that's what I like to see…" He cackled. "Now let's see if I can't make you scream…"_

_Without warning Hartley pulled away and held a knife to Wally's throat, causing the red head to screech in fear._

"_Louder, pet," Hartley demanded as he pressed the knife against Wally's flesh, making a thin trail of blood leak out –and caused another screech, only this one from pain. "Let me hear you scream for mercy… beg me not to hurt you…"_

_Compliantly, Wally did as he was told. "Please… stop…" He whimpered out weakly, terrified of what might happen next if he didn't. "Please don't hurt me…"_

_Hartley licked his lips as he listened to Wally's pleas. "That's more like it…" He laughed. _

_Wally allowed himself to hope that maybe Hartley wouldn't hurt him anymore, but then he caught a dangerous gleam in the older boy's eyes. A gleam that only appeared when Hartley was planning something horrible._

"_Do you understand that you belong to me, and only me?" Hartley questioned him in a menacing tone. "That everything that is you, is mine to do with as I please?"_

_Wally whimpered in response, scared by Hartley's threatening words._

"_I'll assume that means 'yes', because if it doesn't then you will be punished… severely," Hartley told him as he slid the knife around Wally's flesh. "And you don't want that, do you pet?"_

"_N-no…" Wally stuttered down fearfully._

"_Good pet…" Hartley told him as he used the hand not holding the knife to stroke Wally's cheek and play with a strand of hair. "Now keep that in mind as I speak. Because if you don't do as I say, don't think I won't punish you for it."_

_Wally gulped, he didn't like the sounds of that…_

"_Tell me that you don't care for your old family anymore," Hartley instructed, leaning towards Wally again as he did. "Tell me I'm the only one you need…"_

_Wally jerked back in response to the closeness. "W-what?" He squeaked out as he stared at his attacker._

_Hartley's eyes narrowed at him, obviously he did not like that response. "Are you stupid, pet?" He growled in annoyance. "I gave you a simple order –now follow it!"_

"_N-never!" Wally refused defiantly. "I… I love my family! And I HATE you!"_

"_You little brat!" Hartley snapped, wrapping his hands around Wally's throat again, only this time he was chocking the air out of him. _

_Wally struggled as hard as he could, but no matter how hard he fought back he couldn't shake his attacker. He felt his head spin as it failed to receive oxygen… Dark spotted clouded his eyes as he felt the world around him blur out into the nothingness…_

^o^

Wally awoke with a start in his bed. Gasping for air as he thrashed around screaming.

His door was thrown open, and in a millisecond he found himself in his uncle's protective embrace. He calmed down instantly and clung to his uncle's shirt, burying his face in his chest as he cried.

"There there… shh… it's ok, it was just a nightmare," His uncle told him gently as he stroked his back. "It wasn't real… it couldn't hurt you…"

Wally whimpered in response, not bothering to tell his uncle what had happed in his nightmare. He didn't need to, during this past month he's had pretty much the same one every night. Some nights were more morbid than others…

He still couldn't believe that it's already been a month since he first woke up in the base to find that he was finally safe… only to find out that he now had permanent brain damage. At first he hadn't noticed anything wrong with himself, but that was probably because he was acting much the way 'Blitz' did, and he had been 'Blitz' for a very long time. But when they had him practice for school it became painfully obvious that he was nowhere near where he used to be.

Now even the simplest of math equations confuse him, and the science that he used to love is a bunch of gibberish to him. Don't get him wrong, he still loves swishing chemicals around and all that, but it will take a while for him to relearn everything he used to know. The Rogues never saw it necessary to have him study for school; he was expected to act like a mindless five year old after all…

Speaking of the Rogues…

Wally was wary of them; with good reason considering what had been done to him. At the same time he couldn't bring himself to hate any of the Rogues (Sans Hartley of course) as he now knows that they had no idea how much danger they let him be in. He can't even begin to count the amount of times they've apologized to him, many of them even sent him gift baskets with 'Sorry' notes. Those he really didn't mind, he'd gotten a lot of cool action figures and the candies where yummy; his uncle didn't like it much because he knew that they were all stolen goods.

His nightmares of Hartley though, kept him wary of the older boy. He's come to the house a few times to try to apologize for his actions (Only in the past week, mind you.) but he was unsure whether or not he could trust him again.

While Wally has been going to therapy sessions with Black Canary twice a week, Hartley has been forced to attend daily therapy sessions with a therapist Wally did not know. From what he has heard, though, Hartley actually suffers from MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder) and that the 'scary Hartley' (As named by Wally) was being caused by his obsessive need to make things perfect. Hartley apparently refuses to tell anyone why this is though. In any case, that's not what Wally cared about –he was more focused on the possible of 'nice Hartley' (Also named by Wally) eventually being the only Hartley.

Wally remembers a lot about his time with the Rogues, and how nice Hartley was able to be. Part of him really hopes that this is true, but he's not about to get his hopes up just yet.

"Wally?" Barry said, snapping his nephew out of his thoughts.

Wally looked up at his uncle. "I love you Uncle Barry," He told him as he hugged him. "Thank you…"

"I'll always be here for you kiddo," Barry promised him. "Now let's get you ready for school."

"Is it really ok for me to go back?" Wally questioned skeptically. "I didn't really do all that good on the practice tests…"

Barry smiled at his nephew. "You did fine," He assured him. "Besides… we'll be putting you in some special classes' to help you out with your studies. And of course your aunt and I will be more than happy to help you with your homework."

Wally grinned and hugged him.

"Now, get dressed and I'll go help Iris make breakfast."

^o^

Wally bounced up and down excitedly in his seat in the back of the car. He was happy to finally be allowed back at school, he hadn't liked being cooped up in his house all the time; it reminded him of them Hartley kept him inside all the time. Plus he would finally be able to see his old friends!

…

Wally paused his bouncing when that thought crossed his mind, as it raised another though. He couldn't remember who his friends were. None of them. No matter how hard he searched his memories he couldn't bring forth any memories of his school life, let alone any friends he might have there.

He debated asking his uncle if he knew who his friends were, but decided against it. If his uncle knew that he couldn't even remember simple things like friends then there was no way he would let him go back to school. No, for now he would keep quiet about it and hope that he recognizes at least one of his fellow students.

"Here we are!" His uncle announced.

Wally looked up and smiled when he saw his school. He jumped out of the car but stopped from running into the school when his uncle caught his wrist to stop him.

Wally looked at his uncle with a look of confusion.

"Are you sure that you're ready for this?" He inquired.

"Of course," He answered with a carefree grin. "It'll be fun. Don't worry about me."

Barry smiled at him. "Ok, Wally," he said, "Just call me if you get overwhelmed, and I'll be here in a flash."

Wally laughed at his uncles joke before taking off into the school.

Once he was inside the building he smiled at everyone he walked past, hoping that someone would show signs of being his friend. Sadly, all he got were a bunch of pity filly smiles and a couple dark chuckles –Wally deduced that that were the school bullies and made a mental note to greet them with a glare next time instead of a smile.

Eventually he was able to use his school map and his changed schedule to find his first class of the day. It was math. It was a different math than the one he had taken before, this one was for people who struggled in class. It wasn't that it was easier; it just had fewer kids and two extra teachers helping out. They say it's so he can get all the help he needs.

When he stopped in front of the room he noticed that the door was half shut, and the sound of someone laughing could be heard on the other side. He opened the door and revealed a rather ordinary looking classroom with a bunch of posters with really crappy math jokes on them.

He continued to look around and saw about ten other students. Most of them were sitting in their desks listening to their IPods, but a group five stood out to him…

^o^

Mist: Cliff-hanger!

Whistle: Wow, you wasted no time in doing that; I thought you would at least wait until ch 2.

Mist: It was getting too long; it needed to be cut in half.

Whistle: Sure… In any case. I bet you're all wondering who he is about to meet. I hope you all enjoy this twist.

Mist: They'll certainly mess with the plot.

Both: Until next time, please review!


	2. Highschool is HELL

Disclaimer: Do I look like I own Young Justice to you? Or any of the five chars you're all about to meet?

^o^

Mist: And we're back for the exciting second part of our intro!

Whistle: This didn't take long at all, considering your now very busy schedule.

Mist: Ya, I'll barely have time to work at home anymore… so updates will probably be fewer in between.

Whistle: Also, this will be the focus story for a while. The other stories may get updates, but they'll take a while. But don't worry, nothing is on hiatus.

Mist: Ok!

^o^

Chapter one: School is HELL!

^o^

Wally looked closely at the five of them. The group consisted of kids that Wally was certain his uncle would not approve of him talking to, but he was intrigued none the less.

One was a girl with bright pink eyes and matching hair tied into pig tails on either side of her head. She was wearing a short pink and purple dress with no sleeves decorated with zippers and chains. She wore a heavy chain necklace and matching bracelets and knee high boots. She also wore ripped leggings. She looked like the kind of girl who would hug you, steal your wallet, and then push you in a thorn bush.

Standing next to her was a boy with black hair that was shortish in the back, but so long in the front it obstructed his green eyes. He was wearing a long black jacket that almost reached his knees and was decorated with buckles, this jacket was also done up all the way and covered part of his chin. He wore tight black pants with high tops with a skull design on them. Wally also noticed that he had a sad look to him, like he saw something that saddened him.

The next one to catch Wally's eye was a very short bald boy with brown eyes and was around two and a half feet tall. He wore a green sweater with a head on a pike design, and black pants. He also appeared to be writing something in a journal.

Next on the list was a boy with short brown hair and blue eyes. He was more muscular than the others, he obvious worked out. He was wearing a flannel plaid shirt with a brown leather vest and faded jean pants and boots. He also sported a leather cowboy hat. The boy looked like he belonged on the set of a western.

The final boy was wearing a black hat that was lowered so far down, Wally couldn't see his face. He wore a black leather jacket, with a grey shirt under it. He also wore black gloves. This boy also wore black jeans that were long enough to almost hide his worn grey sneakers. He stood at an angle that made him seem like he was hiding his face.

That's when Wally noticed that they were staring at him too.

Feeling embarrassed, Wally quickly rushed inside the room and sat in a random seat –silently hoping that he wasn't stealing someone's seat. He sat still for a moment, but looked up after a moment to find that they were still staring at him and whispering to one another –well… most of them. Buckle jacket boy was using sign language.

This made Wally look down again, so he wouldn't be tempted to eavesdrop.

Back when he was living with the Rogues, while Hartley was finding things for them to do while he kept him locked inside, he had learned sign language. The older boy had been born deaf, but had kept up sign language as he saw it to be a useful talent. That's probably only half the reason he taught Wally it though…

It was sad though, to Wally, that he couldn't remember his school days but he could remember everything Hartley taught him.

The feeling of someone taping his shoulder snapped him out of his depressing thoughts.

Wally looked up and saw the buckle jacket boy standing in front of him.

"H-hello?" Wally tried nervously, unsure as to why he was being approached.

Buckle jacket boy smiled lightly at him and pulled out of piece of paper and started to write.

"Y-you can sign if you want," Wally told him, "I can understand sign language."

The other boy smiled a bit more and signed at a slightly slow pace. 'Thank you, this is much easier. What is your name?'

"I… I'm Wally," Wally responded, still feeling uneasy. "Nice to meet you…"

'Nice to meet you to, welcome to our class,' The other boy signed.

Wally relaxed a bit, this other boy was very nice so far. "What's your name?" Wally inquired.

'My name is Wyatt,' He introduced himself. 'Do you want to hang out with me and my friends?'

"Umm… ok," Wally agreed as he stood up from his chair. He thought again to his first impression of them and wondered how safe it was to be near them. Then again, no one could be worse than Hartley.

Wally walked with Wyatt to the rest of the group.

The female grinned at them. "Hey, you actually did it Wyatt," She laughed. "The way he was shying away from everyone I thought he was just going to hide under the desk."

Wally pouted slight at that. "I'm not a coward," He defended himself.

The girl laughed again. "Whatever you say," She said. "My names Jenny, and these are my friends. This is William," She pointed to the cowboy, "But you can call him Billy. This midget is Mikron," she point to the bald boy, who then declared…

"I am not a midget! I'm just height challenged!"

Jenny ignored him and continued with her introductions. "This here is Seymour," She point to the boy who wouldn't show his face, "And you already know Wyatt."

"It's nice to meet you all," Wally replied, trying to be as respectful as possible.

"Well howdy partner," Billy said as he gave Wally a noogie. "Welcome to class, we'll be your tour guides during your journey in hell."

Wally rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue. "It's school," he said, "Everyone does it, how tough can it be?"

"Do you even remember anything about school?" Jenny rolled her eyes at him.

Wally looked to the ground. "I don't remember much about a lot of things…" He said just above a whisper. "Most of my life is lost to me…"

Jenny twitched at my words. "I…"

"It's ok," Wally interrupted her, offering her a smile. "That's the thing about memories, you can always make new ones."

"That's deep," Seymour commented.

"So what exactly happened to you?" Mikron inquired. "Everyone around school saying that you just disappeared one day, only to show up months later with severe brain damage."

Wally shifted around nervously. "I umm… don't remember," He lied, using the excuse from his cover story.

Jenny snorted at him. "Dude, you suck at lying," she told him, her cat-like grin wide as ever.

Billy chuckled at her. "Got that right, think we all'r gonna have to give him lying lessons," he declared happily.

Wally paled, they could see through his lie!

He was about to run off so he could call his uncle to come pick him up, when Seymour walked towards him and tsk'd at his friends.

"Knock it off guys," He told them before turning towards Wally. "You don't have to tell us the truth, you know. Everyone has their dark secrets. But believe it or not, if you ever need anyone to talk to we'd all be more than happy to be there for you."

Wally smiled at the other boy, feeling relieved by his words. "Thank you."

Before anyone had the chance to say anymore on the matter, the bell rang.

"Stick with us," Seymour told him. "We'll look after you."

Wally grinned even more. He hadn't been able to track down any of his old friends yet, but these new ones he made were even better!

^o^

{Lunch hour, same day}

Not that he'd admit it out loud, but he now had to agree with his new friends. High school was HELL!

He was just glad that he had the others helping him out, otherwise he was certain he would have gone insane. Had he been aware of all the equations, formulas, and numbers involved in one class he never would have bothered his uncle about wanting to back to school. Then he had hoped that his second class of the day, History, would have gone better –boy was he wrong! History may not have math involved, but all the dates and historical people that he couldn't care less about were just stupid! He was glad that he had Wyatt and Seymour sitting beside him in that class, they were really good with memorization.

Speaking of memories. Wally still has yet to remember anything about his previous school experiences. But to his disappointment everything still looks foreign to him, like this really was his first day in the building. He still had no intention of telling his uncle about this, he could figure it out on his own.

He asked Wyatt during history what he thought of the whole thing. The other boy thinks that somehow whatever trauma he had experienced could be affecting his minds ability to remember happier times. Almost like being trapped in that bad point in his life.

The way Wyatt was talking, Wally couldn't help but wonder if he had been through a similar experience.

Wally had tried to ask him about it, but had to stop when the teacher caught them not paying attention.

"Hey!" Jenny called out to him. "Stop shuffling and hurry up, or we'll leave you behind!"

Wally looked up and quickened his pace. "Sorry about that," he said, embarrassed. "Got a little lost in my thoughts…"

Jenny laughed at him. "You seem to do that a lot," she joked before turning back to a conversation she had been having with Mikron.

Wally smiled lightly to himself. He had been ecstatic when his new friends had invited him to eat lunch with them. Part of him had been a little worried that they didn't like him.

"Wally! Dude, where have you been –I've been looking all over for you!"

Wally jumped in surprise before he spun around, hoping that he hadn't moved to quickly, to face whoever had spoken.

He saw a boy around his own age. There was nothing to special about him and nothing really stood out. Had he not spoken then Wally never would have acknowledged him.

The boy had a mop of brown hair, thin framed glasses that covered brown eyes, and was wearing a sweater vest over a white shirt and jeans. He was carrying a science textbook under his arm.

"What's wrong?" Mop head asked him. "It's like you don't recognise me."

Wally felt nervous by these questions. He did not recognise him, not even in the slightest.

He didn't like it.

"Wally?" Mop head tried again.

Wally backed away. "Go away," He told him.

Mop head flinched at his words. "No one said you had amnesia…" That's when he noticed who Wally was with and panicked. "What are you doing hanging out with these people? They're sociopaths! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

The yelling freaked Wally out, startling him enough that he ran and hid behind the closest of his friends. Which happened to be Seymour.

Seymour noticed immediately that the yelling had startled him. "Back off," he ordered mop head. "You're scaring our friend."

"I'm his friend!" Mop head insisted. "Come on, Wally! You gotta remember me!"

"I don't know who you are," Wally told him.

Mop head looked torn between continuing to insist they were friends, and running away.

This confused Wally. If the other boy was so confident that they were friends, why did he look like he wanted to run off? As Wally looked at him he began to realize that he seemed very weary of Wally's new friends, especially Seymour. This confused Wally even more, his friends weren't scary.

Were they?

Before Wally had the chance to debate this further, yet another person showed up to interrupt his lunch hour.

His uncle.

Without a word of warning Barry had stormed over and grabbed Wally, pulling him away from his new friends. He then glared at them hatefully.

Wally tried to free his wrist, but his uncle's grip was a strong as ever. "Uncle Barry, you're hurting my wrist," Wally complained.

Barry loosened his grip slightly, but did not release him. "Sorry kiddo," he muttered off-handedly, seemingly more focused on his glaring.

"Does Wally have amnesia or something?" Mop head asked Barry. "He can't remember who I am –and look who he's been with!"

Barry turned his attention from the teens and to his nephew. "Is that true Wally?" He asked his nephew in shock. "Can you… are you having trouble… remembering?"

Wally nodded reluctantly. "I… I can't really remember much from before the 'accident'," Wally admitted. "And I don't remember a thing about school…"

Wally winced when his uncle tightened his grip again.

"And you five are trying to take advantage of it and corrupt him," He growled at Jenny, Seymour, Wyatt, Billy, and Mikron.

"We're not corrupting no one," Jenny snapped at him. "Wally wants to be friends with us!"

Barry glared even more at her before turning back to Wally. "You're coming home with me, now," he told him.

"But-"

"No buts Wally," Barry interrupted his nephew. "You lied to me about you're mental health. If I hadn't dropped by to check on you, then who knows what could have happened to you!"

"I'm not five!" Wally snapped at him. "I can take care of myself!"

"No you can't –that's the problem!" Barry snapped back. "Your mind, it's not… Wally you can't be trusted to take care of yourself anymore. At least not until you're better."

Wally turned to the ground, not trusting himself to answer.

Jenny stepped forwards and tried to speak. "Wally-"

"Don't talk to my nephew," Barry interrupted her, before tugging at Wally's wrist. "We're leaving."

Then without any more warning, Barry dragged Wally out of the school.

^o^

Wally stayed silent as they drove in the car. He knew he was in trouble, how could he not be? He had withheld information from his uncle. He should have told him the second he realised that his memory was failing him. But he wanted to go to school… and he didn't want to make his uncle worry about him anymore than he already does.

"Do you know who those five are?" Barry questioned him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Sort of, I guess," Wally answered, confused. "They're all in my math class, and Seymour and Wyatt are in history with me. They're really nice."

Barry's eyes narrowed. "Those five are far from 'nice'," He told Wally in a warning tone. "Did they tell you how often they get arrested for shoplifting? About how they have absolutely no respect for authority? Or how they've been caught millions of times smuggling knives into their classrooms?"

"That doesn't sound like something they'd do…" Wally muttered, trying and failing to picture his new friends being so horrible.

Barry didn't seem to hear him, or he did and simply chose to ignore him. "They were probably only being nice to you to anger me," he said. "People like them like to stay in a pack. They almost remind me of teenage versions of the original Rogues. I bet they'll be super villains when they're older –or perhaps sooner."

Only about half of what his uncle said made sense to Wally. "They didn't seem evil to me," He defended his new friends, "They seemed like they really wanted to be my friends."

Barry frowned even more at that. "Of course they do," he said bitterly. "And in there lies the problem. I've already lost you to villains once –I'm not going to let it happen again. Wally, promise me you won't play with them anymore."

"Why?" Wally questioned.

"Because if you stick with them –you'll start to act like them," Barry explained slowly to his nephew. "Their influence will corrupt you."

Wally still didn't see the problem, but he wanted to make his uncle happy. "I'll be good," he promised.

Barry smiled at him. "Thanks kiddo."

Wally smiled back.

He said he would be good. He never said he wouldn't hang out with his new friends.

He could tell they weren't evil, and he would prove it!

^o^

{A few hours later, at the Cave}

"So… you're uncle tells me that you made some new 'friends' at school, is that correct?" Black Canary started nervously.

Wally nodded happily. "Yep!" He declared. "Their names are Jenny, Seymour, Wyatt, Billy, and Mikron."

"I see…" Black Canary sighed into her hand. "And I understand that those five are quite the… delinquents."

"I guess…"

"And yet you still consider them your friends?" Black Canary questioned him.

Wally nodded again. "I don't care what anyone says, they aren't that bad," Wally insisted. "They've been nothing but nice to me since I showed up in the classroom."

Black Canary sighed again, seeing that this argument was going nowhere. "And your inability to remember past experiences, when did you first notice it?" She asked, changing the topic.

"When Uncle Barry was driving me to school this morning…" Wally admitted.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Black Canary inquired. "We could have helped you."

Wally rolled his eyes, growing bored of the therapy session. He's been going to them twice a week for a month now, but as far as he can tell they aren't helping him any.

"Wally?" Black Canary said when Wally failed to answer.

Wally turned his attention back to her. "I wanted to go to school…" he sighed, "And I didn't want to worry Uncle Barry any more than I already am…"

"It's important not to keep things bottled inside," Black Canary warned him.

"I know… I just…"

-Intruder Alert-

-Intruder Alert-

-Intruder Alert-

Wally jumped up in his seat and ran at super speed to the main room to find his friends. He had no idea who would be attacking them, and he was afraid…

When he arrived in the room he saw everyone crowded around a pod-shaped device.

He slowly began to approach it, but before he got to close it began to open…

^o^

Mist: And this would be cliff-hanger number two.

Whistle: Don't worry, this will be the last cliff-hanger for a while –I'll make sure of it.

Mist: This and the prologue were all supposed to be one chapter, now you see why I had to cut it in half.

Whistle: The next chapter will hopefully be up soon, but who knows.

Mist: This one was only finished because I've been home sick all day :(

Whistle: Again.

Mist: Bye everyone!

Both: Please review!


	3. Impulse

Disclaimer: You heard it once, you heard it twice, and now you're back for a third time. I don't own any of the characters used or mentioned in this chapter, or the locations or any random references that I might make in this chapter, and this is just needlessly long isn't it… So in short –I don't own YOUNG JUSTICE!

^o^

Whistle: Disclaimers driving ya crazy?

Mist: Don't understand why I have to do them every chapter.

Whistle: Well get used to it, you have a lot of chapters to write.

Mist: *Bangs head on wall*

Whistle: Good luck :)

Mist: I'll just start typing now…

^o^

Chapter 2: Impulse

^o^

(Third Person POV following Wally)

The pod opened slowly, at least to a speedster, giving Wally all the time he needed to examine it. It was very much metallic, and nothing that Wally had ever seen before in his life –although it looked vaguely like something he'd seen in a movie with that one dude who was a cowboy and he was in the future with a samurai and…

He was getting seriously off-topic.

Just as that thought crossed his mind the pod finished opening and out popped a very odd looking person. And coming from him, that said a lot.

"Ta da!" The person declared happily as he held his arms out with his eyes shut.

Wally quickly took a moment to observe the intruder. The odd looking person in question was a teenage boy, about the same height and age as Wally himself. He had short brown hair and green eyes –and he was wearing a costume! The boy's costume consisted of a white body suit with a red mark down the middle, red gloves, red boots, a red half-cowl with yellow bolts near the ears, and red-rimmed yellow tinted ski goggles.

Wally blinked, and in that time the boy had suddenly went from his pose to jumping in excitement.

"Oh this is soooooo crash!" He declared. "It worked! It really worked –here I am with THE Team!"

"Umm what?" Wally overheard Robin mutter.

Conner growled and stepped towards the intruder. "Who are you?" He snapped. "What are you doing here?"

"Totally crash –you're THE Conner!" The boy squealed like a fan girl at Conner, then he saw Robin. "Gee Tim, you look way different then you do in the textbooks…"

Robin glared before smirking and pulling out a birdarang. "Nice try weirdo –but if you're trying to freak me out you should get your facts right!" He cackled.

The boy looked confused for a moment before his eyes went wide. "Uh oh… you don't mean… no!" He squeaked. "You're not Tim –you're Dick Grayson! I went too far in the past! This is soooooo not crash…"

Robin's eyes widened in horror at the use of his real name. His mouth opened and closed as though he was trying to form a sentence, but no words came out.

Wally super speeded in front of the other teen. He was about to yell at him but when he saw the look on the others face he froze.

His eyes were as wide as saucers, he looked as though he was looking into the face of a ghost. He also looked torn between screaming and bursting into tears. They stared straight at each other for what felt like an hour, but was really only a few seconds. Wally couldn't help but wonder if time froze for the other boy as well.

Then, just as suddenly as the moment happened –it ended.

This came in the form of the other teen surprising Wally by lunging at him and pulling him into a tight hug.

"Wally!" He squealed. "It's you! This is soooooo crash! And here I thought that I had totally moded my whole trip!"

"W-what?" Wally asked, surprised and a little freaked out. "L-let go of me you freak!"

The strange teen ignored Wally's protests, in fact he began to hug him tighter. "No way!" He said. "You're..."

The other boy trailed off, but Wally had no time to dwell on it as at that exact moment Batman, Red Tornado, Black Canary, and Flash burst into the room. Wally took a half-second to ponder the irony of the fastest man alive being the last to show up to an intruder alert.

"Who the heck are you?" Flash screeched when he saw the costumed teen hugging his nephew.

The teen finally pulled away. "Me? You can call me... Impulse!" He declared. "That's a crash name!"

Wally couldn't help but note how much the teen overuses the word 'crash'.

"Well 'Impulse', care to explain how you got here in that weird pod thing?" Flash questioned him as he stomped over.

Wally felt a little safer with his uncle nearby. When he was close enough Wally adjusted his position so he was standing beside him.

"Well... here's the thing..." Impulse seemed to be trying to come up with an excuse.

"Talk," Batman growled from the entrance.

Bart started grinning again. "Hi grandpa!" He declared as he lunged forwards and hugged Flash.

Everyone stared wide eyed at him.

"Wait -grandpa! I'm no one's grandpa!" Flash objected as he tried to push Impulse off, which he somehow managed to do. "Stop trying to confuse me!"

Impulse laughed loudly at him. "Haha! I'm not trying to confuse you! I'm really your grandson –from the future!" He said, "Isn't it obvious?"

"The future?" Flash exclaimed.

"That's kind of cool," Wally commented, earning himself several weird looks from the others.

Impulse grinned even more. "Yep!" He confirmed. "My names Bart Allen, Grandson of Barry Allen -aka the Flash!"

"How the hell does this kid know so much?" Flash snapped.

"Future," Impulse/Bart reminded him. "This stuff is common knowledge in my time!"

Wally regarded the other boy carefully. "So you're like... my cousin from the future?" Wally asked him curiously.

"Ya, and it's totally crash to meet you!" Bart/Impulse laughed as he once more started hugging Wally.

"You're really huggy," Wally commented. He couldn't help but compare his apparent cousin's hugginess with James'.

"I'm just so happy to see you…" Bart/Impulse replied in an almost sad tone.

Batman stepped forward. "We'll test his blood to see if he is what he says he is," he said, "Then we'll examine this machine to see if it does what he says it does."

"Totally crash!" Bart declared, back to being happy.

"Until then you are to stay here under our supervision," Batman finished, followed by one of his famous batglares. "Then we'll decide what to do with you."

"Sounds crash to me!" Bart/Impulse laughed. "This is gonna be the best trip ever! We're gonna have so much fun!"

Wally snorted at him. "You're killing the word 'crash'," He said jokingly, "What does that even mean?"

"It's future language -it's basically our way of saying 'epic'," Bart/impulse explained with a laugh.

"Any other weird words you want to warn me about before i have to hear them?" Wally asked him, silently wondering how many new terms exist in the future. "Like the word you used earlier, 'moded' I think it was?"

Bart/Impulse nodded. "Yep, 'moded' is basically the opposite of 'crash'," He explained. "It's bad, real bad."

"I'll be sure to remember that," Wally said, filing away the new information for later.

^o^

It took a few hours, and Bart clung to Wally half the time, but eventually all the analysis's were done. Wally was excited to find out the truth, he could have a cousin from the future!

He wondered how long Bart/Impulse would be allowed to stay in the past, he hoped it was a while -that way they could hang out! This thought made him happy, lately he's been alone a lot. He knew that it was probably because almost everyone was grounded from operating behind the leagues back, but since he came home from being kidnapped his friends hadn't been spending as much time with him as he would have liked. But the ones who weren't also avoided him...

Wally brushed off the thought for later, right now he had other stuff to do.

He looked over to where the adults were talking. Batman was showing them a series of papers with numbers and chart-like stuff on them that Wally couldn't identify.

This continued on for a few moments before the adults walked over.

"Everything seems to check out," Flash admitted. "His DNA matches mine and Iris's, and that machine is radiating more radiation then normal –including chronotron radiation."

"Which is, in theory, what you would expect to find on a time machine," Batman concluded.

"Told ya I was legit!" Bart declared happily as he jumped up.

Batman glared at him. "Which begs the question, what are you doing here?" He interrogated him.

"Well I umm… I just wanted to visit my grandpa and cousin of course!" He said, "What other reason could there be?"

"Well who was it you mistook me for earlier?" Robin questioned him.

Bart scratched the back of his head nervously. "To be honest I was aiming for five years later than this," He admitted. "I just saw the red costume and thought you were someone from that time period…"

"Explain!" Robin demanded.

"No can do," Bart said, shaking his head. "If I start revealing stuff about your future, we'll all be feeling the mode."

"Ok…"

"Then I think that we can all agree that it would be best that you return to your own time now," Flash said. "Not that I don't want you around-" He added when he saw the hurt expression on Bart's face, "-It's just best to be on the safe side, don't you think so?"

Bart pouted sadly. "I guess so… but can I at least have ice cream with you guys before I go?" He asked hopefully.

Flash let out a defeated sigh. "Fine…" he said. "But right after that, you have to get in your time machine and go home."

"Ok!" Bart promised.

^o^

Wally was pleasantly surprised to find himself having a good time with his newfound cousin from the future. He had even learned quite a bit about the other teen.

For example, Bart and him are in fact the same age as one another (So long as you don't think about the fact that Bart hasn't been born yet) and both love science. Then even liked the same kinds of foods. But something was still bothering Wally about the other teen. The way he reacted when he saw him. He knew that Bart had anticipated his arrival to be five years later then when he showed up –but it was like he didn't expect Wally to be at the cave.

This made Wally worried. Was he dead five years from now? Is that why Bart looked at him like he was a ghost?

Wally looked across the table at Bart, and watched as he talked animatedly with Barry.

"Bart?" Wally said to get his attention.

Bart turned to him and grinned. "Ya, Wally?" He asked.

"I was just wondering… the way you reacted earlier when you first saw me…" Wally started nervously, slightly afraid of the answer. "You looked like you were staring into the face of a ghost. Am I… supposed to be dead in ten years?"

Bart jumped at his words. "What? You… dead?" He asked him. "No, that wasn't it… I've just… I've never met you in person before…"

"Why's that?" Wally asked him curiously. "Aren't we cousins?"

"You're… busy doing other things…" Bart rationalized.

"Like?" Wally questioned.

"Dude, spoilers!" Bart said, pretending to zipper his mouth. "Do you want the time stream to mode out?"

Wally gulped. "Good point…"

But he still had the feeling that Bart wasn't telling him something… something very important.

Barry shook his head in his hand at the boys. "I think that's enough 'family bonding' for a while," He said. "You need to get back to the future, and Wally needs to get back to his therapy session. Black Canary thinks that we might finally be getting a proper understanding on the way you act."

Wally nodded.

Bart frowned and shot his cousin a sympathetic look. "I guess I've arrived after the 'Pied Piper incident' I've read so much about…" he said sadly.

Wally shrunk inwards at the mention of the Pied Piper.

"Don't mention it out loud," Barry warned Bart. "It's only been a month since then, Wally is still having a hard time recovering."

Bart super speeded over to his cousin and hugged him. "You'll get better…" He promised him.

Wally smiled at him. "Thanks…"

"I guess it's time to go now…" Bart sighed as he pulled away from Wally. "I'll miss you…"

"Miss you too," Wally told him.

They walked slowly back into the main room and to the pod, where they found Batman and the others waiting for them.

Batman looked at Barry. "It's time to send Impulse back to the future, before he destroys the time stream," He told him in a warning tone.

Barry nodded. "I know."

Bart waved at everyone as he approached his time machine. "Good bye everyone!" He exclaimed, "It's been so crash to meet you all!"

And with that he jumped in and shut the machine.

Wally stared at the machine, waiting for it to disappear…

…

…

…

He wasn't aware that time travel was so slow…

"Why isn't he disappearing?" Robin questioned.

"Maybe he's traveling forwards really slowly?" Wally suggested, earning himself some very weird looks from the others.

Just then Bart jumped out again. "Stupid machine!" He snapped, kicking the time machine. "The circuits are fried –it's not working!"

"Can you repair it?" Aqualad asked him.

"No way!" Bart grumbled. "I'm a tourist –not a Chronotechnician!"

"So wait… are you?" Wally wasn't exactly sure how to word this particular sentence.

Bart pulled at his hair and growled. "I'm stuck it the past!" He exclaimed, confirming Wally's thoughts. "I can't get back to my time period!"

"You have got to be kidding me…" Barry face-palmed.

^o^

Batman and several other of the more technologically advanced members of the league examined Bart's time machine –but no one was able to figure out how to fix it. It would seem that Bart was correct; he was stuck in the past.

With no way home.

Wally couldn't help but feel sorry for his cousin; he must be feeling so homesick.

In any case, after it became apparent that Bart would not be returning to the future, plans were made so he could pretend to fit in in the past. The first thing to be decided was where he would stay, which Barry immediately offered a place in his home. So Batman forged Bart an ID, labeling him as Barry's recently deceased brother's son. Then paper work forging his education and all that technical stuff was done.

Then Barry called and checked to make sure it was ok with Iris…

Fortunately Iris was perfectly ok with the idea, and immediately went shopping for a bunk bed, as their house only has two bedrooms. That means that Wally and Bart would be sharing a room.

Wally wasn't sure how he felt about sharing his room, but Bart seemed like a nice enough person…

He was sure that everything would be fine.

^o^

(Third Person POV following Bart)

{Later that night, around midnight}

Bart sat up on the top bunk, the spot he had been given as Barry and Iris were paranoid of Wally falling down during a nightmare.

That felt weird for him to think…

Wally… his cousin…

That really was the first time he had ever met him in person. The only reason he knew what he looked like was from the pictures his grandmother had shown him back when he was little. When she told him about his cousins life…

Bart played with a small orb in his hands, the orb he was supposed to use on Neutron after saving the Flash from him.

He knew when he got set back in the future something bad would happen… Three years messed with everything. He was running way behind schedule and desperately wanted to get his job done as soon as he could. Yet in his rush he had made a stupid miscalculation and wound up arriving five years early.

Yet he couldn't help but wonder… was it a miscalculation? Or was it… a miracle?

Because here he was, with Wally. A mostly mentally intact Wally.

He could –No would- save Wally.

Because he was the only one who knew what was going to happen to him…

^o^

Mist: !

Whistle: Mist, that's not a proper response.

Mist: Maybe not, but it shows shock!

Whistle: But you know what's going on!

Mist: Do I Whistle? Do I really?

Whistle: For the sake of all our sanities… I sure hope you do…

Both: Please review!


	4. Way Past Paranoid

Disclaimer: Do you all really need to be reminded that I don't own Young Justice?

^o^

Mist: And we're back, for yet another chapter of this weird story!

Whistle: We hope that you are still enjoying this, and not growing bored of it.

Mist: You'll rather love this chapter for it's character development, or want to hit me for making things complicated ;P

Whistle: By now, I think everyone's already used to your crazy writing style.

Mist: We'll see :)

Whistle: Ok, We're stalling a lot -but first we'd like to thank KaliAnn for making the files for Jenny, Wyatt, Mikron, Billy, and Seymour for us!

Mist: I'll start the story *Pushes button with 'start' on it*

^o^

Chapter 3: Way past paranoid

^o^

(Third Person POV following Wally)

{The next morning}

"Hurry up, you're going to make us late!" Wally called out to his cousin from the bottom of the stairs. "How hard is it to pick out one outfit?"

Wally blinked, and in that time Bart had come right in front of him.

"Done!" The future boy declared happily.

Wally rolled his eyes. "You're wearing a white t-shirt, green jacket and jeans –what the heck took you so long?" he said.

Bart grinned at him. "It takes time to make my hair look this good," he answered cheekily.

"Then how come it still looks like a rat slept in it?" Wally joked.

Bart stuck his tongue out at him.

Wally caught sight of a blurred figure out of the corner of his eye, and then his uncle was standing beside him.

"You two ready to go?" Barry asked them.

Wally nodded at him.

"Why do we have to go so early in the first place?" Bart inquired. "School doesn't start for a while now."

"I need to speak with the principle," Barry answered as he began walking to the door. "Make sure there's no complications with you joining –and see if we can't get Wally put in different classes."

"Why's that?" Wally asked, confused. Why would his uncle want him in different classes?

"To keep those five away from you," His uncle answered him.

"Five who?" Bart asked.

Wally rolled his eyes. "Uncle Barry means my new friends," He responded. "I'm still not sure why he doesn't like them; they were nothing but nice to me."

"That's because they're trying to corrupt you!" Barry pointed out, sounding really annoyed. "They can't be trusted! Do you want to turn evil?"

"They're not evil!" Wally objected. "They're misunderstood -I'm sure of it!"

Barry face-palmed. "You'd think after all he's been through he'd know better than to be so trusting of strangers..." he muttered.

"Can you tell me a bit about these people?" Bart inquired. "So I know who to keep a look out for?"

Wally sighed as he listened as his Uncle told Bart a bunch of horrible things about his new friends. He had tried objecting to his words but his uncle had simply brushed off his words and reminded him that he 'apparently couldn't be trusted to make proper judgments himself'. Basically his uncle didn't trust him to take care of himself. Wally found it ironic how controlling his uncle had started acting lately.

'But he's only doing it because he's paranoid,' Wally thought to himself as he looked out the car window and to his school in the distance. 'He doesn't want to loose me again, and I understand that, but he needs to let me live my own life. I don't need him fighting my battles for me, especially when there isn't a battle to be fought.'

"You coming kiddo?" Barry asked his nephew, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Wally blinked and looks around to find that they had already parked. "Oh, ya, coming," Wally mumbled as he jumped out of the car. "Sorry about that, I got a little lost in my thoughts."

Barry looked at him with a worried expression. "Do you want to stay home?" He asked him. "We could try again another day if you aren't ready."

Wally shook his head. "I'm fine," He insisted, offering his uncle a wide smile. "Besides, aren't you supposed to think at school?"

His uncle smiled back at him. "Ok, if you're sure you're ready," he told him. "But I want you to promise me something."

"What is it?" Wally asked him curiously.

"Promise me that if you feel weird, or nervous, or unsafe that you'll call me right away," Barry instructed his nephew. "Even if it seems small, it could escalate quickly."

Wally nodded. "I promise," He said honestly.

Barry smiled and hugged Wally for a second before leading him up the steps to the school where Bart was already waiting for them. He seemed just as concerned for Wally as Barry does.

"Is everything ok?" Bart asked them quickly.

"Ya," Barry answered, then he whispered (Not very well) to Bart. "Keep a close eye on him."

Wally pretended to have not heard him.

^o^

Wally had waited patiently for ten minutes as his uncle and Bart spoke with the school principle. He had tried to join the conversation, but apparently randomly asking why he wore a tie wasn't the right thing to say and his uncle had then asked him to stay silent until they were done. From what he could understand of the conversation their were a few holes in Bart's education that might set him back a bit -and that there were no other classrooms for Wally to be transfered into. This made Barry angry, because it meant that there was at least two of the five in every class Wally had been placed in. Wally found his uncle getting all upset to be amusing.

"I'll ask the teacher's to keep them away from him," The principle told Barry in an attempt to calm him down.

Barry nodded. "Good," He said. "I don't want those delinquents corrupting him."

Wally rolled his eyes at his uncle.

"And I'll keep them away during lunch hour!" Bart declared.

"Thanks Bart," Barry thanked his grandson.

Wally opened his mouth to object to having his friends kept away from him, but before he got a word out the bell rang.

Barry turned to look at Wally and smiled. "Have a good day at school Wally," he told his nephew. "And don't forget, you can call me for anything."

"I know, Uncle Barry," Wally responded, a small smile on his face.

^o^

{The start of lunch}

Wally let out a loud sigh as he heard the sound of the bell ringing. It was a sound he really wanted to hear after the day he's had.

After his uncle left Wally had gone to his first block class, science, and had been super excited to see all of his friends in it -at least until the teacher forced him to sit on the other side of the classroom. He was even to far away for his friends to pass him notes. Wally was just glad that he and Wyatt could communicate with sign language. It wasn't even because he wanted to talk, he couldn't understand half of what the teacher was saying! And the stupid helping teacher didn't help him at all! Then he had art with Wyatt, Seymour and Jenny, and once again they wouldn't let him sit with his friends! This teacher even tried to get him to 'hang out' with some kids that he really didn't get along with. Bunch of stupid...

He rushed out of the Art Classroom and tried to track down his friends before his cousin found him.

He found them hanging out under a large tree in the schoolyard. One of them (Probably Jenny) had set up a picnic blanket which everyone was sitting. When Jenny saw him she waved him over.

Wally jogged over and sat at an empty space on the blanket.

"What was up with the teachers today?" Seymour asked him. "They were completely pulling you away from us."

"Ya, what's going on?" Jenny insisted.

'Is something wrong?' Wyatt signed.

"And Jenny said that the cruddy art teacher was trying to get you to be friends with some of the idiots," Mikron pointed out.

"They were being pushier than a cow on a hot day with only one water hole," Billy commented.

Wally laughed slightly at his friends. "You can blame my Uncle Barry," he told them, "He's gone totally bonkers. He's paranoid that you guys are gonna 'corrupt' me or something like that."

"What a wack," Mikron laughed.

Wally nodded in agreement. "To make things worse he's having my cousin, Bart, on lunch patrol," he told them, rolling his eyes. "If he finds me talking to you guys he's gonna drag me off."

'Then would that be him over there storming over to us?' Wyatt signed before pointing to behind Wally.

Wally turned around to face his cousin. "Umm.. hey Bart," He greet nervously with a half-wave. "Didn't see you there..."

"Were you not told to stay away from them?" Bart asked him, sounding annoyed. "Barry's gonna flip when he finds out about this!"

"He doesn't have to find out!" Wally insisted. "Come on, Bart, just let this slide -please?"

Bart shook his head. "I can't do that," he objected, "This is for you're own good."

"But-"

"No buts," Bart interrupted before grabbing Wally's wrist and pulling him to his feet. "You're going to have lunch with me."

Wally glared at him, but allowed himself to be dragged.

Not a good a lunch hour.

^o^

After lunch hour was over Wally made his way to his next block, english. He hadn't had a very good lunch hour, not in the slightest. The entire time Bart was trying to get him to open up to people who were apparently his friends prior to the 'accident'. Much to Bart's disappointment, though, Wally did not open up to them -or even like them for that matter. In fact, Wally found them incredibly boring. All they wanted to do was sit around and talk about science and a bunch of formulas Wally couldn't recall at all.

Wally sat down without a fuss in the chair his teacher directed him to. No surprises, he was placed on the opposite end of the classroom from his friends in the class (Which was Wyatt, Mikron, and Seymour).

Yet to his surprise, not long after class started Wally found a crumpled piece of paper on his desk. He un-crumpled it in surprise and found a note written on it.

-Meet us by the tree after school, we can hang out together-

Wally looked over at his friends and tried to figure out how they had gotten the note to his desk, but he couldn't find a rational explanation.

After several moments of thinking it over he simply shoved the note in his pocket and decided to ask them about it after school. For now he had to study some poem by some dead guy.

English was weird...

^o^

{Meanwhile, at the West-Allen household}

Barry was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and going over some case files before he had to go to work when a knock on his door cought his attention. He was quick to answer, and to his surprise found Jay Garrick (The Flash before him) standing on his doorstep. The older man had a concerned look around him, although that was to be expected. When they had finally gotten to tell Jay and his wife, Joan the two had been horrified to hear what had happened to Wally because of the Pied Piper. Or perhaps, Barry had thought, Batman had told him about Bart.

Because of this, Barry assumed that Jay was there to talking about either incident.

But neither were what came out of Jay's mouth.

"I hear that you've gone paranoid," Jay stated calmly.

Barry sighed loudly. "Did Wally tell you that?" He asked him.

"He didn't need to," Jay commented as he walked into the house, "I actually heard from Batman about what's going on with Wally and those kids he's making friends with."

"I serious don't think that Batman has any right to call me paranoid," Barry countered, unable to even of it.

"He doesn't -he actually agrees with you," Jay said. "I'm the one who thinks you've gone paranoid. Well, Joan agrees with me."

Barry face-palmed. 'Great, the Garricks' have gone senile,' he though to himself, then asked aloud. "And why do you think I'm paranoid?"

"Because you're acting like everyone's trying to hurt Wally," Jay pointed out. "Even a couple of kids who are just trying to be his friends."

"They're delinquents!" Barry objected. "They'll corrupt him!"

Jay shook his head at Barry. "What do you even know about those kids?" Jay inquired. "I'd guess that you just know what's written in police reports. Well when Joan and I heard about what's going on we dug a bit deeper."

"And what did you find out?" Barry asked, more to be polite than out of curiosity.

"All five are orphans," Jay told him as he pulled out five file folders. "Most of them came from abusive families. They all live in the same group home together."

Barry rolled his eyes but non-the-less took the folders and looked through them.

Name: Jennifer Albatross. Age: 15. Bio: Abandoned at a young age because of unknown reasons Jennifer has been bounced from foster homes all her life. Constant teasing and lack of support has made it difficult for her to trust anyone. She doesn't bond easily to others. After an accident she ended up in the Central City Group Home for Delinquent Children. After an incident with some older foster kids she made friends with other foster kids around her age.

Name: Mikron O'Jeneus. Age: 14. Bio: Because of health problems and financial difficulties he was placed in foster care at age three. Inability to socialize and behavioral problems combined with petty theft landed him in the group home.

Name: Wyatt Kidd. Age 15. Bio: Taken from his abusive parents. Was in a foster home until he committed a crime and ended up paroled at the group home. Extremely shy and his inability to talk have made it hard for him to connect with others.

Name: William Numero. Age: 15 Bio: Parents died in a car accident. Because of his hyperactivity living relatives didn't want him so they placed him in foster care until several bad mistakes against the law placed him in a group home.

Name: Seymour Eies. Age: 15. Powers: Bio: A perpetual runaway that was picked up by Social Services after his neglectful parents rights were terminated. Foster families were not inclined to keep a child with a medical disability aka his eye. He ran away from five homes living on the streets before being placed in group home.

Barry looked back up at Jay after he was finished reading.

"Well?" Jay said.

"This doesn't change anything," Barry said, shaking his head. "I'll admit that they have reason to distrust authority -but they still commit crimes. I don't want Wally around those types of people."

"Have you ever thought that maybe Wally could help them become better people?" Jay asked him.

"Wally can't even help himself -how is he supposed to help a couple of lost causes?" Barry countered.

Jay sighed at him. "You should have more faith in him -Wally's stronger than you think he is," he told the other speedster before promptly walking out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

{End of the school day}

Wally let out a loud sigh of relief when he heard the school bell ring, glad to finally be free of the hellish day. The thought that maybe he should have stayed home had crossed his head a dozen times.

Wally brushed off the though, once again. It didn't matter where he was. Bored at school in a classroom, or expected to stay silent in his room at home.

With that though Wally made his way through the halls, careful not to run into his cousin. If he found him he'd want to drag him back to the house, then he wouldn't get to hang out with his friends. And he really wanted to find out how they got that paper to his desk...

He grinned when he walked around the corner and found his friends waiting for him by the tree.

Wally walked out of hiding, but then he caught sight of Bart out of the corner of his eye and quickly super-speeded back behind the corner -hoping desperately that no one saw him using his powers.

When Bart was once more out of sight Wally peeked back around the corner. He winced when he noticed the shocked expressions on their faces.

They saw him...

Wally gulped and slowly made his way to them. "Umm... hey guys?" He stuttered out. "I umm... made it..."

"Y-you have powers!" Jenny gasped.

"Oh... you umm... saw that..." Wally gulped again. "Anyway that you guys can umm... well not tell anyone about that?"

Wally caught Seymour smile under the shadow of his hat. "Trust me, your secrets safe with us," He told him, his grin widened as he touched his hat. "But I think it's on fair that we tell you-" he lifted off his hat, revealing his one eye, "-that we have powers too."

Wally's eyes widened as he looked at his friends. "Y-you all have powers too?" He asked in surprise.

Seymour nodded at him.

Wyatt stepped forwards. 'I have the ability to teleport myself and small objects,' he signed. 'That's kind of how I got that note on your desk earlier.'

'Well that solves the mystery of the note,' Wally thought to himself.

Jenny snapped her fingers and a branch snapped in half after a pink aura seemed to slice it. "And I can cause bad luck at will and break things," she said with her cat-like grin.

"I'm a super-genius," Mikron said smugly. "I can formulate anything with my brain."

Billy grinned stupidly -then suddenly there were two of him! "And I can replicate myself," the Billy's said at the same time before going back to being one.

"What can you do?" Wally asked Seymour.

"Various eye-related stuff," he said, waving it off. "Like x-ray vision and such."

Wally nodded in half-understanding.

"So what exactly is your power?" Jenny asked Wally, looking him over. "From what we could see it almost looked like you could teleport like Wyatt."

Wally gulped again. "Well... I'm a speedster," he admitted, deciding just to let it out.

"Cool!" Billy exclaimed. "You're just like that Flash guy that protects the city!"

"That would make sense, I am his sidekick after all," Wally commented.

Jenny's eyes widened. "Wait -you're Kid Flash?"

'So the accident you went through...' Wyatt signed nervously. 'Everyone knows that Kid Flash was brainwashed by the Rogues...'

Wally grinned at him. "This is gonna be a long story -got anywhere we can talk where Bart or Uncle Barry won't find us?" he asked them.

"We can talk in the park," Seymour suggested as he put his hat back on, "Nobody ever goes there."

"Cool," Wally said as he followed the others as they made their way to the park.

And in his excitement he didn't notice that a familiar face had spotted him.

(With Jay)

"Well what do you know," He laughed when he saw Wally with his new friends. "They're all metas. that certainly explains things. I just hope I can help them all out."

^o^

Mist: That's all for now -but it was a super long update so no getting mad at me!

Whistle: And no complaining about cliffhangers, because by definition this isn't one!

Mist: I hope this lived up to everyones expectations...

Whistle: Same here.

Mist: See you all later in Make Believe. Until then...

Both: Please review!


	5. A talk in the Park

Disclaimer: I think that everyone knows by now that I do NOT own Young Justice.

^o^

Mist: I'm so so sooooooo sorry that this has taken me so long to do. To be honest I hit a bit of a brick wall and lost interest in writing anything. I haven't done much during this break but a bunch of homework and other crappy school stuff.

Whistle: We'll try to get updates to come more regularly in the future, but keep in mind that school comes first. It's our senior year and we need to pass.

Mist: Hopefully when schools over I'll have more time to concentrate.

Whistle: Until then, enjoy this chapter.

Mist: BTW -HAPPY HALLOWEEN

^o^

Chapter: A Talk In the Park

(Third person POV following Wally)

They sat in the shade of the trees as a cover of sorts so they wouldn't be found as easily. There was much to be said between them, and no one was quite sure how exactly to say it. Wally was especially having trouble figuring out how he was going to explain the most traumatic event of his life to them, yet at the same time he had a feeling that they would be one of the few people who will really listen to him. Still the thought of stirring up his old memories terrified him…

"I guess we should tell you a bit about ourselves," Seymour said, interrupting Wally's train of thought.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." Wally told them, not wanting any of them to feel uncomfortable.

Jenny smiled at him. "We wouldn't offer if we didn't want you to know," she laughed.

Wally smiled back at her.

"I'll start," Jenny declared. "My parents abandoned me because they didn't want to deal with my 'weirdness'. They thought I was cursed. I got bounced around a lot until I wound up at the group home with these idiots."

Billy was the next to step forwards. "My parents died in a car crash," He said. "None of my relatives wanted me, sayin' I was hyper and useless. Somehow I wound up caroled up with the others."

'Abuse parents," Wyatt sighed, not looking like he wanted to go into anymore detail than that on the subject. 'I was placed in foster care but was framed for a crime my foster brother did and wound up in the group home.'

"My stupid parents got rid of me -said they couldn't handle me or something stupid like that," Mikron growled. "They were just threatened by my genius."

Finally Seymour spoke up. "My parents neglected me, pretended I didn't exist and treated me like I was a monster because of my eye," He explained, playing with the rim of his hat. "Eventually I got tired of it all and ran away, I lived on my own for a few years -surviving off of petty crimes and my natural street sense. Unfortunately I got injured and caught by a cop. The rest, well I think you can figure it out."

Wally nodded in understanding, feeling sympathy for his friends.

"Because of our anti-social behavior and hatred of authority we've been labeled as delinquents," Seymour went on to explain.

"That must be why Uncle Barry doesn't want me hanging out with you guys," Wally mussed. "He'd be looking at your criminal records -not your pasts."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Doesn't matter," she said. "We don't need his permission to be friends with you. The only thing that should matter is if YOU want to be friends with US."

Seymour nodded in agreement. "Now you know who we are, it's your choice what happens next."

"Of course I want to be friends with you guys -you're the only people who treat me like I'm normal," Wally admitted, thinking about his friends and family's over-protective attitude as of late. "Ever since that incident with the Pied Piper... it's like they're afraid I'll have a breakdown any second. They keep smothering me and being over-protective. I'm not a piece of breakable glass!"

'I'm sure they're only scared you'll get hurt,' Wyatt signed to Wally. 'But I understand what you mean. You won't get better if they won't let you. You need to find a way to make them understand that.'

"That's the problem," Wally sighed. "They won't listen to me. They all think I can't make my own decisions anymore."

Jenny walked up to Wally. "Wally, what exactly happened to you?" She asked him. "What was so horrible that it made everyone so paranoid?"

Wally looked to the ground. "It's a long story," he said. "But basically, I was kidnapped and brainwashed -made to act like a mindlessly obedient child. A perfect pet/plaything."

"That's horrible!" Everyone exclaimed.

"That's not even the half of it," Wally scoffed. "Whenever my mind tried to fight back against the control, or if I tried to think, the Pied Piper made it so I'd be in extreme pain. It felt like my head would split in to."

"Negative reinforcement to make you not want to think," Mikron muttered. "What a sicko."

Wally nodded in agreement. "And sometimes when that didn't work, like when my mind was having a strong day, he'd become angry..." Wally whispered the last part, thinking back to some of the more traumatic events that Piper had put him through.

'What did he do?' Wyatt asked him.

"Usually he'd yell and threaten me..." Wally answered quietly. "Then suppress my memories of the event after forcing my mind back under his control... But one time... when I was fighting back more than usual I said something that got him real mad. He hit me..."

Jenny put a comforting hand on his shoulder as he began to sob silently, memories of the event flooding his mind.

"It's over now," Jenny told him. "He can't hurt you now -and if he comes after you..."

"We'll protect you," Seymour finished the promise.

"We'll kick his butt into next week!" Mikron added.

'You're safe with us,' Wyatt promised.

"Got it partner?" Billy laughed.

Wally smiled lightly. "Thanks guys..."

"Umm, sorry," A voice spoke out from behind them, startling them all. "I don't mean to interrupt but... everyones looking for Wally. Only be a matter of time before someone shows up."

Everyone spun around, expecting a fight.

Wally relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Hey Grandpa Jay," Wally greeted the eldest speedster.

His friends relaxed a little when they saw that Wally wasn't afraid of the old man that had shown up, but they were still visibly on edge. It was obvious that they did not trust him in the slightest. Then again, as Wally was beginning to realize, his new friends didn't seem to trust any adults so it wasn't much of a surprise. They may have a point, to. Wally didn't know if Jay had the same case of paranoia as the others, as he hasn't been able to see much of the elder when he got back; mostly due to the fact that his uncle rarely let him out of his room.

"Hey Wally," Jay greeted back as he approached them. "So these are the kids I've heard so much about -don't look like demonic monster bent of destruction to me!"

Jenny, Seymour, Wyatt, Billy, and Mikron glanced at one another nervously, uncertain of how to react to the mans statement.

After several awkward moments of silence Seymour stepped towards him and spoke up. "Whose side are you on?" he asked in an aggressive tone.

"Relax, I'm not paranoid like Barry," Jay insisted, holding his hands up in surrender.

Seymour backed down a bit.

"I just want to talk," Jay told them as he lowered his hands. "And I want to help Wally. How about you all come with me to my place? Joan made cookies."

Everyone hesitated.

"You're the one who knows him, Wally," Jenny eventually spoke. "We'll follow your lead."

Wally smiled slightly. "Then let's go eat cookies."

^o^

Mist: Sorry it's so sort! I will make the next updates longer -I promise!

Whistle: At least it's better than nothing.

Mist: Exactly!

Whistle: We hope to see you all soon.

Mist: Please let us know if you have any suggestions!

Both: Please review!


	6. Unraveling

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. As if that wasn't already obvious in the first place.

^o^

Mist: OMG I am super sorry about not uploading in such a long time. I've had a rough few months. With school starting up again, me moving in a few months, then my parents were in a car accident...

Whistle: Mist's had a hard time finding the motivation to write these stories.

Mist: Thing's may be slow for a bit -but I swear nothing is being cancelled.

Whistle: It's going to be like what the creators of YJ do with there episodes. Few and far between.

Mist: I hope to find some balance in my life so that I will be able to get back in the Rhythm of things and begin typing regularly.

Whistle: Another thing is we're doing callab work with three other Writers on this site, as well as writing a novel.

Mist: It's already on final editing!

Whistle: We'd also like to thank KaliAnn for helping us figure out how to write this chapter.

Mist: Lots of HUGS! And feel better Soon Kali!

Whistle: Now, enough out of us. On with the story.

^o^

Chapter five: Unraveling

^o^

(Wally's POV)

It would have been easy enough to mistake the Garricks' home for any other one in the area. It was a simply designed two-story building painted white with pale blue, an ordinary oak door, and an ordinary 'Welcome' mat in front. Leading up to the door is a small flower garden, cared for by Joan Garrick. They had a large backyard encased by tall tree's that blocked most of it from view. A completely inconspicuous home, in and inconspicuous location.

Of course Wally new differently.

The other Garrick in this home was Jay Garrick -a retired superhero. The first hero to all himself 'The Flash' and a well-trained Speedster. He was someone Wally truly looked up to for his strength, and kind heart.

So Wally wasn't surprised at all when they weren't led into a trap, as his friends had feared, but were welcomed into the home with open arms and given milk and cookies. He knew that at least someone in his life was still sane!

"Ah, you're back," Joan greeted Jay with a smile. "And you brought guests! How wonderful, I just made cookies!"

Jay smiled back. "These are Wally's new friends," he said. "A real nice group from what I've seen. And would you believe it -they're all metas just like Wally."

"Wow, that's remarkable," Joan exclaimed in pleasant surprise. "What are your names sweethearts?"

Wally grinned when he saw the surprised looks on his friend's faces.

The five looked nervously at one another for a few moments, but eventually all eyes landed on Seymour who let out a nervous sigh before speaking.

"Umm... I'm Seymour," He said. "Nice to, well, meet you I guess."

"Jenny," Jenny said shortly.

"I'm Billy, nice to meet'cha Ma'am!"

"I'm Mikron..."

'Wyatt, it's a pleasure,' Wyatt signed swiftly.

"It's wonderful to meet all of you." Joan smiled. "My names Joan, but you can just call me Grandma."

No one responded.

Sensing the tension Joan decided to change the topic. "How about you all come to the kitchen with me? Fresh cookies remember. It would be a shame if they all went to waste or worse, Wally got a stomach ache from eating them all by himself."

"Grandma Joan stop; your embarrassing me," Wally muttered blushing slightly.

"Umm... is it really ok?" Jenny asked nervously.

"Of course!" Joan insisted.

Joan and Jay led them all to the kitchen and soon enough a platter of cookies were placed in front of the friends. At first everyone but Wally was hesitant to touch them, but the smell was to tempting. In no time They were happily eating cookies and drinking glasses of milk provided by Joan. Everything seemed perfect.

"Woo we these are the best darn cookies I've ever tasted!" Billy exclaimed cheerfully.

"The milk actually taste fresh and doesn't smell like week old crud," Mikron remarked.

"My goodness, doesn't that group home feed you children?" Joan questioned the teens, the worry practically making a visible aura around her. She wasn't afraid at all of the kids despite their looks and records, and everything Barry was going around telling everyone. All she saw was misunderstood children who needed a little guidance and someone to treat them with kindness. "From the way your gobbling up my cookies I think you would be starving."

"The group home has limited resources thanks to state budget cuts and lack of donations. The social workers are overwhelmed and the staff is small. Most of them think we're delinquents and aren't worth anything. The supplies are distributed first come first serve. Even if we get something it might be taken by some other kid if we don't guard it closely enough," Wyatt wrote out for the Garrick's to read.

"Is that why you shoplifted and bring weapons with you sometimes? You're afraid someone's going to hurt you?" Wally questioned. He could empathize with them. He was always worried that Hartley was going to come back and harm him. His friends had never known anything except fear and danger. They acted tough in order to survive in their environment.

"Yeah, the state may pay for us to attend school, but it doesn't care what happens to us as long as we make it to eighteen so they can kick us out on the street. We'd all been at the group home a couple days when some of the older kids jumped us for our stuff. I used my eye to save Jenny from being beat up. When the creeps turned on me Wyatt teleported a branch so they trip up. Jenny and Billy covered our escape while Mikron fooled around with one of his gadgets. He managed to scramble their short term memories so the adults never learned what really happened. Bad enough being a ward of the state, no need to be locked up with collars on our necks," Seymour explained. His friends nodded in agreement.

The room was silent for a few minutes while they processed the kids stories. Finally Jay spoke up, "How well can you five control your powers?" He noticed how nervous the kids were, they were afraid what would happen if they said they couldn't control their abilities. "There's nothing wrong with asking for help if you need it."

"Guys, you can trust Jay and Joan. They always helped me out when I was in trouble. They're on our side. He's not going hurt you or have the police arrest you," Wally insisted, hoping that his friends could be helped.

"Wally's right Sweethearts. You don't have to keep your guard up around us. We want to help you five out in any way we can," Joan told them sincerely.

The five looked around nervously, half-eaten cookies laying forgotten on the table.

"Why are they being so nice to us?" Jenny asked him in a hushed whisper.

"They're always like this, they're the nicest people I know," Wally replied. "I don't think either of them have a mean bone in their bodies."

Jenny nodded, but didn't seem convinced. Wally smiled anyway.

With only one look around it was easy to see that he was the only teen not suspicious of the Garricks' actions; though he couldn't really blame his friends for behaving in such a way. They've never met an adult who trusted them in their lives, always being doubted, hated, and being treated like common crooks. How were they supposed to trust anyone after all of that? All of that anger and hatred...

"Why? Are we some pity party or charity case to you two? We've all been through it before. Adults say that you can trust them, that they want to help us out. In the end they screw you over," Seymour remarked in a suspicious and angry tone. The others voiced similar opinions having been let down one to many times.

"Your not a charity case to us nor do we think your irredeemable delinquents who are nothing, but trouble. Joan and I have researched your pasts and we think you've just been dealt a hard hand in life. I know you feel as if you've been abandon and that nothing you do will redeem you in societies eyes, but that's not true. We don't believe that and neither does Wally."

"You guys were nice to me. You didn't freak out or push me about what happened to me. You could have bullied me or treated me like a freak about my secret, instead you guys opened up and included me in your circle. I told my Uncle Barry your good kids and I'm going to prove it to him!" Wally told them, hope flaring in his eyes.

'Wally makes a good point. It would be nice to have an adult on our side for once. Someone who believes in us and could help us with our powers,' Wyatt signed.

"Come on Wyatt, don't go going soft on us!" Jenny complained.

"And how can they help us? The old dude maybe a speedster, but he's retired! What does he know about helping other metas with control? Besides even if we accept their help we still have to go back to cruddy group home every night. Any progress we make would be wasted if we can't get out of that dump," Mikron whined.

"The five of you are welcomed to come here any time you want, same as Wally. I maybe a retired hero, but that doesn't mean I forgot what its like to work with others. When I was a member of the JSA my teammates all had different abilities and we learned to work together. I know a few tricks that could help you out,"Jay told them, and for a moment everyone in the room could see the true hero in the old man.

"Also you may not have to stay in the group home for very long. When Jay retired we wanted to continue making a difference. A hero isn't just somebody who battles villains or saves countries from certain threats. Ordinary humans can make a difference every day. We donate clothes for needy, volunteer at soup kitchens. We've sponsored needy children from different parts of the world. Jay and I recently signed up to take classes to become registered foster parents," Joan informed them with a loving smile.

"You can do that at your old age?" Wally asked without thinking. The Garricks gave him a gentle rebuke causing the teen to squirm. "Sorry, that was rude of me."

"Wally, anyone can become a foster parent. We just need to pass a ten week course and have a home study done to prove we can handle a certain number of children. Usually parents are matched up, but you can also make requests of what kind of children you want. There's the guest room and spare room upstairs that the boys could stay in and we've recently converted part of the basement into a small bedroom. With a little time and effort we could make this a safe place for your friends to live in."

"You're serious about this aren't you? You're really not afraid to foster us and help us with our powers? What's the reason, its not like we'd ever be allowed on Wally's team," Jenny admitted unhappily. "One look at our records and the heroes would turn us away."

"I have to agree with her. I don't think Flash or the others would approve of them on the the team. They'd probably think your crazy for trying to help them out. Black Canary has forbidden me from really training and Batman hasn't approved of me going on missions. They still think I'm going to fall apart if I try to be a hero again. Bet you my entire months allowance they're going to let Bart take my place on the team," Wally moaned. He knew he wasn't a hundred percent better, but still how was he suppose to overcome his PTSD if they didn't let him do anything on his own? His cousin was cool and all, but what did he know about being on a team? He was from the future, who knew what differences there were from his time period and this one.

"Don't look so glum Wally. Flash is a little paranoid right now, but you'll prove to him and the others you can be trusted to go on missions again. If they still won't let you help out with the team why not help your friends here form their own team? They're going to need a leader," Jay suggested to his surrogate grandson.

"Yeah, your the one with the most experience Wally. We'll need all the help we can get. You can help us with our costumes, setting up an HQ, (always wanted to have a tree house headquarters,) heck you could even name us! We'd probably come up with something lame like the Hive Five when there's six of us," Seymour joked.

Wally could see how excited his friends were and he was starting to feel happy as well. This was his chance to show Flash and the others that he was getting better. By helping his friends with their powers he could leave those memories of Hartley behind. If he helped the five of them find a real home with the Garrick's it would stop them from becoming the next generation of Rogues as his uncle was so fond of saying.

"Do you really think we can do it?" Jenny asked him hopefully. "Become a team of heroes?"

Wally smiled. "Of course," He said, and he meant it. "We're going to prove to everyone how strong we are, together."

And, at least for that moment, Wally felt normal again.

^o^

For the next few hours they all talked about their future team and what they wanted to do with their time together. Jay would be happy to help train them after school for two hours. All six of them could use the help. Jenny had some control issues when it came to keeping big hexes under control. Mikron's genius sometimes made his brain feel on fire and he'd mess up on his gadgets. Wyatt had difficulty teleporting someone with him and Billy sometimes couldn't stop replicating. Seymour actually didn't know how to fully turn off his power. Then Wally had lost a lot of his knowledge of his own powers during the 'incident' with the Pied Piper. Joan agreed to help the kids with sewing their costumes and Jay volunteered to buy the lumber so the kids could build a tree house in the backyard.

But a lot of the time was spent talking about their name to be, which was something no one could agree upon. They all wanted something different that stood out from the rest of the world. Something that wouldn't wind up getting them associated to one group. And it had to be cool!

Sadly this 'group name to end all group names' failed to be created that day.

Somehow, after like five hours, Barry had managed to figure out where they were. This had, of course, ended quite badly. The second he walked in he was a very unhappy uncle...

"How dare you!" Barry snapped at Jay the second he walked in. "This is completely unforgivable! How could you do this?"

"Care to elaborate on what it is that i've done that's so horrible?" Jay responded, not losing his cool or raising his voice.

This managed to impress the six friends.

"This!" He pointed to Wally and his friends, whom were sitting at the table. "Letting those delinquents _associate_ with Wally! Don't you realize how fragile and impressionable he is right now?"

The six teens quickly turned away, not wanting to get Barry even madder if he sees how hard they're trying not to laugh.

"Don't you think you're over-exaggerating, a lot," Jay spoke calmly. "These kids are just-"

"These aren't kids, they're criminals," Barry interrupted. "And I don't want them around Wally!"

"CoughParanoidCough" Seymour fake-coughed out.

Barry turned to glare at him. "Why you little-"

"Enough!" Joan snapped. "Just stop it Barry, you're being cruel. You cannot judge them, you do not know them."

"I know all I need to," Barry defended himself before going to Wally and pulling him to his feet. "You two can play pretend in your senile old minds, but I'm not letting you drag Wally into it!"

"Uncle Barry! Stop it! You're hurting my arm!"

Barry loosened his grip immediately. "I'm sorry," He said quickly. "I didn't mean..."

"You're acting like what Hartley tried to make me think you were!" Wally blurted out without thinking.

Barry looked shocked, then stern. "We're going home, now."

^o^

Mist: Whew, its done!

Whistle: Finally.

Mist: Oh, about the group name, i don't know what to call them -any suggestions?

Whistle: Hope to hear from everyone soon.

Mist: Hope you enjoyed this short little Chappy!

Whistle: We'll try to update soon.

Mist: LOTS OF LOVE!


	7. None so Fragile

Disclaimer: I still do not own anything, if I did TT would still be alive

^o^

Mist: Another super late update –I'm sorry! But I'm sure everyone family with life as a high school student is familiar with the familiar 'end of term' life we get three times a year. I'll probably be delayed again soon because finals aren't to far away.

Whistle: We hope that everyone will understand and please be patient. This, and the other two stories, are NOT on hiatus –only slowed down.

Mist: Sorry again

Whistle: Now without further delay…

Mist: Lets start the story!

^o^

Chapter Six: None so fragile

^o^

(Following Wally)

Wally was too afraid to speak a word as his uncle drove him home. He couldn't believe what was going on around him. Saddest thing was, when he snapped those harsh words at his uncle he meant every single last one. And he knew Barry knew it. But what was his uncle supposed to expect him to say? He wasn't acting like he used to, he's paranoid and over-protective. He's worse then all the other League members put together! It was like living in a nightmare for Wally, everything was becoming like he had been brainwashed into seeing! Was he being brainwashed again? No… his uncle is to paranoid to let it happen again. He wished that everything would just go back to normal so he could feel safe again. It was like the days when Hartley was in a bad mood. To afraid to act or speak, never knowing what the consequences for an un-allowed word or movement may be. Living in fear…

Everything seemed so dark and cold now, and it wasn't because of the rain.

In desperation for everything to just be a dream, Wally tried pinching himself. And of course it stung. When that didn't work he decided to try something different. Something that would truly prove if he was sleeping or awake.

Wally checked to make sure his uncle wasn't looking and… *bam*

"Squeeeee!" (Don't ask) Wally yelped/squeaked as he held his head in his hands. That had been a dumb idea!

"Are you ok?" Barry asked in a frantic voice as he pulled over the car and checked on his nephew. When he saw Wally holding his head he became even more frantic.

"Y-ya?" Wally groaned, deciding that he was never going to smash his head into the dashboard again.

"What happened? Are you having a headache? Are you hearing voices? Can you understand me? Are yo-"

"I'm OK!" Wally interrupted as he curled in on himself, not liking all of his uncles yelling. "I just smashed my head on the dashboard…"

He immediately felt like hitting himself again when he said that –and after all that work to stop his uncle from seeing what he did! He braced himself for yelling by curling up even more and covering him ears.

But Barry didn't scream at him.

"Oh, Wally…" Barry sighed as he held his nephew, pulling down his nephews arms so he could examine the newly formed bump and bruise on Wally's forehead. "You shouldn't hurt yourself, it's bad. Do you understand? Hurting yourself won't make the bad things go away."

Wally took several moments to understand what his uncle was saying "I-I'm not-"

"It's ok Wally," Barry spoke gently as he stroked his back comfortingly. "I'm here to help, don't push me away. Everything is going to be OK."

Wally mumbled into his hands a few choice words he'd like to say, but knew he'd be grounded for life if he ever voiced them.

"Let's go home now," Barry said as he started up the car again, without taking his eyes off Wally, "I'll call Canary and tell her that you'll be needed another therapy session to you're schedule. Spending all day with those horrible delinquents has hurt your fragile psyche."

"You don't know anything about me…" Wally growled quietly.

Barry pretended not to hear him.

^o^

When they arrived at the house Barry had left Wally with Iris and Bart. After he had told them what had happened in the car, both were extremely worried about Wally –which annoyed Wally greatly. With the damage done, Barry left to make the phone call to Canary. Wally had a feeling that the level of paranoia of the people around him was going to become a thousand times worse. As if everyone wasn't insanely paranoid and over-protective already. Worse part, now he knows that this isn't just a horrible nightmare.

"-so now what? Should we pull him out of school?" Wally snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his aunt speaking about him.

"Wait what?" He squeaked out.

"Weren't you listening to us? You looked really focused…" Iris gave him a concerned look.

"I was?" Wally asked, still shaking of some of the dizziness. He didn't remember zoning out though… but he could have sworn he was thinking about something important… but now he can't remember what. Something about a car?

"Wally!" Iris spoke loudly, sounding very concerned.

"Huh?" Wally looked up, then touched him forehead –wondering why it hurt. "Why is there a bump on my head?"

"You don't remember?" Bart asked him, his tone a mixture of fear and confusion.

Wally shook his head, trying to think back to what had happened. He could remember playing with his friends in the park… Then Jay had shown up and they went to his house… then they decided to make their very own team… then Barry came and he was mad… then something about a car and a dream…

"Wally, you smashed your head into the dashboard of the car," iris told him softly.

"I did?" Wally asked. "Why did I do that?"

Iris sighed. "I'm going to get Barry," she said before standing and swiftly leaving the room. She looked very sad…

"Why is she so sad?" Wally asked Bart. "Did something happen when I was zoned out? And why did I hit my head?"

Bart gave him a sad look. "Barry says you weren't doing well. Your mind was hurting so you decided to… well… hurt yourself to make it go away," he said softly and reluctantly.

"Did it work?" Wally asked him, not noting how uncomfortable the conversation was making him.

"No Wally, no," Bart told him strictly. "Hurting yourself is wrong –never do it again. You may not be so lucky next time, you could permanently injure yourself. Do you realize how worried everyone is for you? Don't you realize how fragile you are?"

"I'm not fragile," Wally frowned.

"Yes, you are," Bart sighed. "I wish you weren't, but you are. Hartley nearly shattered your mind, and right now I'm afraid that you may never be about to recover from it. That he may have truly destroyed you. You're too fragile now, to easily broken. That's why everyone is so desperate to keep you safe. We don't want to see you break."

"Well constraining me like this is going to break me worse!" Wally insisted.

"We aren't constraining you, we're protecting you!" Bart countered.

"Lying bas-"

"What is going on in here!" Barry snapped as he stormed into the room.

Wally glared at him. "You're all liars!" He cried. "You're going to hurt me! Trying to trick me!"

Barry went from angry to worried. "Wally…" He tried.

"No! Shut up! Leave me alone!" Wally covered his ears and curled into a ball.

Barry wrapped his arms around Wally and held him, growing more and more concerned by the second. He felt helpless as his nephew trembled, he didn't know how to help him. He didn't move Wally, he was afraid that the child may fall into a panic and hurt himself again, but he did speak softly to Wally and tried his best to comfort him. He assured him that no one was going to hurt him, or trick him, or make him do anything bad. He promised Wally that he was safe with him and that everything was going to be ok.

And eventually, Wally fell asleep.

Barry lifted Wally up in his arms. "He's gotten worse," he said weakly. "He hasn't had a panic attack that bad before, even when we first got him away from Hartley."

"It's those delinquents!" Bart accused angrily. "They're making him even more fragile!"

"We have to find a way to keep them away from him," Barry agreed, "He can't recover like this."

Iris nodded. "Maybe we should take him out of school for a bit longer," She suggested. "We thought he was getting better, that's why we put him in, but it's clear that he's been brought down even lower than before. It's like he's completely lost all the connections he's made with us."

"We could take him on a trip," Barry mussed. "Somewhere out of Central, just to get him away from the bad memories –and away from those delinquents."

"He's really fragile right now, what if he thinks we're taking him away to hurt him?" Bart voiced his one concern.

"Then we won't go unless he wants to go," Barry said, smiling at his plan. "We'll ask him in the morning if he'd like to go somewhere, we'll even let him pick where. If we make it his choice that should stop him from being afraid of going, don't you think?"

Bart smiled and nodded. "Ya, that should work," he agreed.

"A family vacation will be a great way to reconnect him with us," Iris looked relieved, then she frowned. "But… what if he doesn't want to go anywhere? What if he has another panic attack and-"

"Everything will be alright," Barry insisted, "This will be good for him. And with the way his memory is now, he may even forget about those horrible people by the time we get back. *sigh* that would sure be a relief…"

"It really would, but his memory loss is a serious problem," She responded, frowning at the last part. "Then with him trying to hurt himself… I just don't want him doing something that could seriously injure him. Or worse… try to kill himself."

Barry frowned as well and suddenly looked very serious. "I won't let that happen," he said. "I'll keep a better eye on him, I swear. I won't let him be hurt by anyone, or himself."

And he meant it.

^o^

(following UNKNOWN) (NOT THE POKEMON!)

"Interesting… very interesting…" a voice spoke, an annoyed edge. "So they're going on vacation, ha. As if something so trivial could restore such severed bonds. Just a wasted useless effort on there part. They've already lost Wally, holding on is simply pathetic. It's over. They are going to lose him, and he'll hate him. And there is nothing they can do about it! Foolish hero, he cannot save one so fragile!"

The figure was standing in the rain with a cloak over his body, obstructing him from view. The figure seemed bothered by his surroundings, as though he wished to be else where, but did not want to leave his position as he carefully watched Wally.

When Barry went up the stairs, still holding Wally, the figure smirked to himself as he turned away from the house.

"Those idiots don't know who they're dealing with," he laughed, "They don't have a clue what I have in store for them. And I think I'll keep it that way for now, the less they know the easier it will be for me."

^o^

Mist: Over-confident villain is over-confident. The nerve! Villains never win!

Whistle: Now accepting guesses as to who this unknown adversary is.

Mist: Also –VOTE TIME!

Whistle: We want to hear your suggestions as to where Wally should say he wants to go.

Mist: And thanks for sticking with us this far. I promise I'll try to update faster from now on. Now that this horribly stressful end of term work is gone I should have more time on my hands.

Whistle: Next story to be updated, will probably be KN101.

Mist: Until then, please review!


End file.
